


Tattletale

by varrylarry



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: Asshole Louis, Bottom Harry, Drunk Louis, F/F, F/M, Harry Styles & Louis Tomlinson Are step-Brothers, Hate to Love, I repeat, Introvert Harry, Loud Louis, M/M, Popular Louis, Prompt Fill, Punk Louis, Shy Harry, Step-Sibling Incest, Top Louis, We'll just have to wait and see, extrovert louis, louis is an asshole, louis is troubled, none of Louis' sisters are in this, not sure if I'll write smut for it or not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 14:09:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7175009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/varrylarry/pseuds/varrylarry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is a reserved and soft-spoken young man and Louis is his rebellious and angsty new step-brother. Their mothers have just gotten married and Harry isn't sure how he'll survive living with Louis who excuses his lashing out by calling it a coping mechanism for his parents' unsmooth divorce. Is Louis really just a reckless asshole or is there more to his insubordinance than teenage defiance?</p><p>Technically a <a href="http://larrystylinsonomegleprompts.tumblr.com/post/137466206237/au-harry-was-fifteen-when-his-mother-re-married">prompt fill</a> but I kinda went in a different direction so idk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

It was no surprise to the household when Anne divorced Des when Harry was eight. Des couldn’t have been better about it, reassuring Anne that it was okay, it wasn’t something she could control and he would still of course be there for her. Harry hadn’t really understood was ‘lesbian’ meant at the time but Gemma wasn’t weird about it so neither was he. It was only a year later that Des remarried to a pretty blonde American lady and moved to the states to start a new family with her. He still however made sure to stay in contact with his two children he’d had with Anne no matter how long it had been since they’d seen each other in person.

Anne stayed single for the most part of the next few years and it was only when Harry entered year nine that Anne began dating Jay Tomlinson, another northern woman very similar Anne herself. Harry liked Jay and he didn’t mind her hanging around a lot of the time. Gemma was a more outgoing person than he so while she was out partying with her ever new boyfriend Harry got to spend time bonding with Jay in front of the telly and scooping from a bowl of buttered popcorn.

Yes, Jay was wonderful, and Harry would think his mother couldn’t have picked a better partner if she tried, if it were not for that _wretched_ son of hers.

Harry had thought Gemma was a wild kid and only realized how gravely mistaken he’d been when Louis careened into his life with a flash of a lit cigarette between his teeth and hands casually stuffed into his designer leather jacket pockets. While Harry’s idea of a good time involved a fantasy novel and lots of blankets, Louis _always_ had some party to go to this weekend. At least Gemma took breaks to spend time with her close friends and family; Louis always fucked off to God knows where and came back wasted and occasionally donning a new tattoo. Harry had not once seen a single soul come home with Louis, only the ones packed into a crowded convertible either picking him up or dropping him off so early in the morning Harry was already awake for his morning cup of tea.

Jay called it ‘coping’ and Harry called it bullshit. In his opinion, Louis was not allowed to rebel in such a self-destructive way and get away with it when both Harry and Gemma had gone through the _exact same thing_. Granted, when Jay announced to her husband that she was gay he hadn’t been as understanding as Des had been with Anne, but from what Harry understood they no longer had contact and therefore Louis had no excuse to lash out in such a way. He was supposedly disruptive albeit popular at school, and at home he was distant and moody and Harry had given up on ever forming some sort of acquaintanceship with him.

So when Jay proposed only months before Gemma left for her gap year in Tanzania and Anne said _yes_ Harry nearly went ballistic. It would be a happy spring wedding—even Des and his wife and children would be attending—then Gemma would leave for Africa and Anne would sell hers and Harry’s house in Rotherham and officially move in with Jay and Louis in Doncaster.

Meaning Harry and Louis would now be stepbrothers and have to spend more time together than occasional weekend sleepovers, of which Louis was always shamelessly out of the house for the entirety.

This also meant Harry would be attending the same school as Louis. The same school Louis supposedly ruled surrounded by the gaggle of jocks and pretty girls Harry guessed he was out with every time he left for a party. There would now be no escaping this angsty, rebellious and downright _rude_ teenage boy, Harry was sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's the prologue for you. I'm excited to see where this goes. 
> 
> P.S. I need opinions. Side Ziam, Zigi or Zayn/OFC?  
> If Liam is not paired with Zayn he will be single.  
> Niall is too precious and innocent for a relationship.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school year kicks off, Gemma offers Harry some sisterly advice, and Louis gets into some trouble. Harry is confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thank you to my beta [Grace](https://www.instagram.com/gracefilly/?hl=en) for being a doll and reading through this for me. If you appreciated the good grammar let her know by clicking on that there link and telling her yourself. 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!

Harry looks up from his novel when he hears a car door slam and a few drunken laughs from outside. Peering out the window he can just make out Louis' lumbering form stumbling his way up the drive in the predawn light while his friends drive away. He hears Louis' key in the lock downstairs and goes to take a sip of his tea, which he discovers is all gone. Sighing, Harry marks his page with slip of paper he'd ripped from somewhere and lifts his now empty mug off the windowsill to bring downstairs.

Louis is busying himself with the kettle when Harry reaches the kitchen. Harry can see his slowed and uncoordinated movements that lead him to believe Louis' wasted. But that was expected.

"Good morning," Harry greets quietly.

Louis spins around. "The fuck are you doing up? It's the middle of the bloody night," he accuses.

Harry ignores him and rinses his mug in the sink. He'd remind Louis that he wakes up early every morning for tea and quiet reading time but Louis would just forget again by the next time he found himself awake. Harry feels Louis' glare on his back as he turns on the kettle, which his stepbrother had not been able to figure out in his intoxicated state of mind, and pulls out another mug for Louis.

"Any preference?" he asks sorting through their mothers' extensive combined tea collection.

"I don't want any. I'm going to bed."

Harry watches him go. When Louis is out of sight he returns the mug to its place in the cupboard.

The summer is coming to an end and the school year would be starting up in only a few days. The month Harry has already spent living with the Tomlinson's hasn't been that bad, but he is aware that the second school starts up Louis will be in the house more than ever and there will be no way to avoid him.

+

“Did you boys have a good first day?” Jay asks the second Harry walks in the front entrance.

“Oh, um, Louis’ not here,” says Harry sheepishly. “Just me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry dear. I told him to pick you up from school. That boy . . . what am I going to do with him?”

Harry laughs and takes an apple from the counter. “Today was fine. Most of my teachers seem all right. How was your day?”

“Oh, my day was wonderful, thank you for asking. Always so polite, you are.” Jay grins. Harry shyly looks at the floor trying to hide his small smile. “I’m heading up to my room if that’s alright . . .”

“No problem. I’ll call you down for dinner in about an hour or so. I have the night shift at the ward tonight so it’s an early supper for us.”

“Sounds good,” Harry replies as he makes his way up the stairs.

Harry shuts his bedroom door behind him and pulls his MacBook out of his school bag to set up on his bed. He shoots a text to his sister, “can u talk rn?” and begins to strip from his school uniform into something more comfortable.

Gemma replies with a positive response a few moments later so Harry dials her number and shucks off his socks while it rings.

“Hey there little bro,” Gemma greets when she picks up.

“Hey Gem,” Harry says.

“Was today your first day of school?” she asks.

Harry replies, “yeah. We didn’t really do anything, mostly just met up in the classes and played elementary icebreakers. What about you? Do anything interesting today?”

“No, not really,” Gemma immediately brushes off Harry’s question. “How’s that Louis character behaving now that he can’t stay up all night at keggers?”

“He was grumpy as anything this morning.” Harry rolls his eyes. “I left for school before he did, ‘cause I walked, but he drove and by the time I got there he was in the front yard with about fifty people already surrounding him. Suddenly he was Mr. Popular and bouncing off the walls and it was so _annoying_ , Gem.” Harry huffs. “And apparently Jay asked him to drive me home from school but I haven’t even seen him since third period when he was skateboarding down the hallway. What’s so funny?” Harry pouts when he hears Gemma stifling her giggles on the other end of the line.

“I can practically hear your pout through the phone, H.”

“Well!” Harry exclaims. “It’s not fair that he gets to be all moody and standoffish at home but goof off at school. I bet he could get away with anything as long as he played it off as a coping mechanism.”

“Haz . . .” Gemma scolds. “I know you seem to think he went through exactly what we did—“

“—And therefore he has no excuse to be such an asshole—“

“But you haven’t taken into consideration that his parents’ divorce was much more recent than ours and it didn’t end well like ours. He hasn’t spoken to his dad since the whole fiasco and he might very well be using this angsty teen façade to cope. Think about it, have you ever even had a conversation with him?”

“Of course I have!” Harry defends himself.

“Let me rephrase. Have you ever had a conversation with him while he was sober?”

Suddenly Harry feels bad. Gemma is right; he was raised better than this. “Right, okay. Good point,” he breathes into the receiver.

“What I’d suggest,” Gemma says carefully, “is getting to know him before you make any snap-judgments. Talk to him a bit. Who knows, he might even turn out to be a decent human being.”

“You always have had a heart of gold.”

“Thank you,” Gemma replies with zero sarcasm.

Brother and sister chat for a few more minutes before wishing their farewells and hanging up. Harry watches a few episodes of Breaking Bad on Netflix and fills in an entire A4 sheet of paper with Sharpie doodles before he is called downstairs for supper.

“Hi, mum.” Harry greets his mother with a kiss on the cheek when he enters the kitchen. “How was work today?”

“Good, good,” she replies, hugging him to her side. “Look, Jay’s made us something fancy.”

“Smells amazing,” says Harry unwrapping himself from Anne’s embrace and beginning to set the table. He hesitates on setting a fourth place. “Will, uh, _Louis_ be joining us tonight?” he asks bitterly.

Anne and Jay both stop their movements of preparing dinner and look to each other. Jay turns around slowly and sets down the chopping knife she’d been using on raw veggies to wipe her hands on a dishtowel.

“I’m not sure,” she says slowly, carefully. “But there’s no harm in setting a place for him.”

Harry nods and tries not to dwell on the now still and cautious air in the room. It isn’t long before the silence is filled again with their chatter and Harry can exhale. He needs to stop making his dislike for Louis so obvious if it’s going to make his mum and Jay uncomfortable. The truth is that Harry is really happy that they’ve found each other, which is why despite his distaste for her son Harry was not opposed to Jay marrying his mother.

Dinner goes well and Anne recounts her day from the office and how she’d had to fix a major fuck-up with one of the construction crews she managed. Then it’s Harry’s turn to share how his day went so he leaves out the parts about Louis and talks about purely his classes. They inevitably move to discussing politics and before they know it, Jay is due to leave for her night shift at the hospital and Harry offers to wash up so Anne can go to her evening yoga class.

“Please take out the bin, too,” Anne asks as she heads out the door.

“Sure. Have fun,” says Harry, shutting the door behind her.

Washing up takes no time at all and Harry stores leftovers for his ever-absent stepbrother in the fridge.

It’s when Harry’s putting the trash out at the end of the drive that he finally sees Louis again. He’s still wearing his school uniform and his backpack is slung over his shoulder. His skateboard is nowhere to be found.

“We missed you at dinner,” Harry says in a clipped tone when Louis reaches the driveway. Louis looks up with his mouth gaping as if he’d just noticed Harry standing there. “Are you—are you fucking high?” Harry hisses at his stepbrother, taking note of his red-rimmed and unfocused eyes.

“Chill,” says Louis. “I’m fine.”

“You’re lucky our moms are out so they wont realize you missed dinner to smoke weed with all the other junkies.”

Louis snorts.

“Or I could just tell them myself,” Harry muses.

“Oh, fuck off. What are you, ten? Do I have to threaten to call you a tattletale and throw your binkie on the ground? Grow the fuck up.” Louis continues marching his way to the house.

Harry stands shocked for a moment because, wow—that may have just been the most Louis has ever spoken to him at once. He follows Louis into the house a moment later. Harry finds Louis sitting at the dining room table slouched over his phone. “Um.” Harry clears his throat. “There’s leftovers in the fridge if you want them.”

Louis looks up. “Oh. Um, thanks,” he says distractedly.

Harry sighs. He goes into the kitchen and takes Louis’ dinner out of the fridge. He unwraps it from the saran wrap and places it on a microwave-safe dish and sets the microwave to reheat it for him. Then he pours a glass of water. Harry comes back into the dining room when Louis’ meal is ready and sets it in front of him, handing him a fork and knife. “Eat.”

Louis stares at the food and Harry’s hands offering him cutlery in front of him for several long moments. Then he stands up so fast he sends his chair screeching back and slaps the fork and knife out of Harry’s grasp. “I’m not a fucking child!” he bellows, and then storms up the stairs.

Harry’s stands there in shock with his hands still shaped around the cutlery they had been holding before Louis went bat-shit on him. He jumps when he hears Louis’ bedroom door slam from upstairs.

Right. So that went well.

+

Harry is eating lunch at school with the girl who sits next to him in functions when he hears Louis’ heavily accented and unmistakably angry voice from down the hallway.

“Go fuck yourself, why don’t ya?” Followed by the sound of what Harry presumes is someone’s head getting bashed into a locker. The volume level rises as people start chanting for a fight and Harry excuses himself from lunch with his math-friend in order to go find out what is the matter.

Upon arriving at the scene Harry is unable to determine whether it’s Louis or the other dark haired bloke who’s winning the fight. Seconds later two teachers from the phys. ed. department get themselves between the two and manage to separate them long enough for them to start calming down.

“What the hell is the matter with you boys?” One teacher shouts. “Tomlinson! You got a death wish or summat?”

“He called me mum a dyke!” Louis spits, standing taller to look over the shoulder of the teacher in front of him at the boy he’d been fighting with.

Harry inspects the other kid, another Year 14 like Louis himself, though younger because he hadn’t been held back like Louis had. The kid’s nose is bleeding and he’s got a split lip but he grins anyways.

“That’s cos’ she fuckin’ is, Tommo!”

“Brady!” shouts the teacher holding the dark haired kid back.

Louis goes to lunge at him but is once again shoved by the phys. ed. teacher so his path is blocked.

“That is enough from the both of you! Principal’s office, now!” The two phys. ed. teachers turn to drag Louis and Brady towards the office by the scruff of their necks, causing all the nearby bystanders to part like the red sea to let them through.

“And of course you’re fuckin’ here,” Louis snarls when he passes Harry. “Just gonna sit there like the fruit you are and let these dickwads insult your mum? At least _I’m_ getting my hands dirty.”

“Tomlinson, that is _enough_ ,” the teacher holding him mutters lowly.

Harry follows them to the principal’s office, fuming but trying to contain his rage for now. The principal is a balding man who is only in his third year of running this school and Harry’s impressed he hasn’t quit yet with all the shenanigans that go on around here. He looks up with tired eyes when two teachers barge into his office uninvited with a pair of furious teens and Harry trailing shyly behind.

“Styles—you don’t need to be here,” says the teacher who had grabbed Louis in the fight.

“Yes I do. It’s my mum too,” Harry says quietly.

The principal sighs and motions for the three boys to sit down. The teachers briefly explain what had happened and then leave him to deal with his students. “Thank you for bringing them in. I’ll speak with you after,” he says to the teachers’ retreating backs. “Alright, what happened here?”

“He called my mum a dyke!” Louis shouts the same time that Brady kid yells, “He shoved me into a locker!”

Louis turns to glare at the other boy. “Only because you insulted my mother!”

“Boys . . . BOYS!” The principal bellows to get their attention. “This is unacceptable behaviour on both of your parts. You have already each gotten into trouble in previous years at this school and I have to say I am deeply unimpressed that we couldn't even made it a week into this school year accident-free. Both of you will be serving detention for the rest of the week.” the principal says with finality. “Harry, you took no part in the fight from my understanding, is that correct?”

“Yes sir.” replies Harry. Louis utters something under his breath that Harry can’t quite catch.

“Then you’re off the hook. Tomlinson, Brady, you’ll both be receiving calls home. I’ll see you in detention beginning tomorrow. I trust you’ll be able to find your way there?” Louis and the other boy both nod. The principal closes his eyes and rubs his temples. “You’re dismissed. Go to class.”

Harry walks with Louis out of the office. “You called me a fruit,” says Harry when the silence becomes unbearable.

Louis jerks his head up and stares at Harry. Is that guilt in his eyes? “I hadn’t thought you’d noticed,” Louis says truthfully.

“I’m just confused on why you think it’s appropriate to bash someone’s head into a locker for using a homophobic slur but then go right ahead and call me one too,” Harry accuses.

“I’m sorry,” Louis says quietly.

Harry huffs in annoyance. “That doesn’t fix it. What the hell is wrong with you to think any of your actions are even remotely acceptable?” When Louis doesn’t respond, he continues. “You act all big and bold at school but you’re moody and downright cold at home, you disrespect our mums but fucking attack anyone who so much as mentions that they’re gay, and now apparently you think you can call me a fruit and I won’t call you out on it!” Harry lists. “I don’t get you.”

“You don’t have to,” Louis suddenly snaps. “What I do is my business and you can stay the fuck out of it for all I care.”

Taken aback, Harry misses his chance to have that heart-to-heart moment where he finally discovers the root of Louis’ problems and they bond over ice cream and FIFA when Louis storms off down the hall and slips into a side corridor before Harry can call after him.

What was _wrong_ with this kid?

+ 

“So, Louis, I got a call from your principal this afternoon,” begins Anne.

Harry puts down the fork he’d been lifting to his mouth to turn and watch this unfold. He’d been impressed when Louis had actually shown up for dinner. He doesn’t remember the last time he’d formally eaten a meal with Louis present. It must have been before Jay and Anne had even gotten engaged.

“Yeah? Did I get an award or something?” Louis asks, expression unreadable.

Anne looks to Jay for help. Jay looks at Louis, reading him in the way only a mother can. When she looks meaningfully at Harry he gets the message and stands. “I’m done. Thanks for dinner,” he says rushing out of the room. He finishes at the counter in the kitchen and can’t help but wish Anne had at least waited to bring it up until Harry was done eating. He’s just rinsing his plate in the sink when he begins to hear raised voices from the dining room.

“So I’m just supposed to let that stuff go?” Louis says loudly.

“No, honey, but you know better than to hit someone. You’re an adult now and you have to behave like one,” Jay says firmly.

Louis scoffs. “Fine.” Harry hears Louis push his chair back and holds his breath.

“Louis William Tomlinson, you get back over here and finish your dinner. You do not have permission to leave the house!”

Harry goes completely still to listen to the exchange.

“I thought you just said I’m an adult!”

“My house, my rules. You’re grounded.”

“Fine!” Louis says again.

Harry jumps when Louis storms into the kitchen and dumps what was left of his dinner into the bin. Which, Harry notes, was most of it.

“What are you looking at?” Louis seethes.

Harry blinks at him. “Uh, nothing.”

“That’s what I thought.” Louis spins on his heel and marches up the stairs. Harry sees him duck his head and wipe his nose on his sleeve before he disappears around the bend. Had he been crying?

Harry shakes is head as if to clear it. Of course not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So . . . Louis, eh? Quite the character. What's up with him? 
> 
> I'm still taking comments on who to pair Zayn with in this story!  
> Will it be Liam? Gigi? An oRiGiNaL cHaRaCtEr???? You decide!


End file.
